Law and Constitutional Studies

Scope

This section publishes doctrinal, comparative, historical and empirical legal scholarship. It covers constitutional law and constitutional theory, administrative law, criminal law and procedure, civil and commercial law, family and personal law, labour and industrial law, environmental and land law, intellectual property, international law, and human rights.

Alongside doctrine, the section actively seeks empirical work on how law functions once it leaves the statute book: delay in the subordinate judiciary, the working of legal aid, the practice of bail, the conduct of tribunals, compliance with regulatory obligations, and the experience of litigants who are not represented.

What the editors look for

A legal manuscript is assessed on the precision of its question, the accuracy of its authority, and the honesty of its treatment of the contrary view. An argument that surveys judgments without taking a position rarely justifies publication. An argument that takes a position without engaging the strongest case against it rarely survives review.

Case comments should identify what the judgment decides, what it changes, and what it leaves unresolved, rather than summarising the facts at length. Comparative work should explain why the compared jurisdiction is a useful comparison and not merely an available one.

Article types

Research articles, review articles, case comments on judgments and legislation, short communications on legal developments, and book reviews of legal scholarship published within the last three years.

Referencing

Use the Bluebook 20th edition or the Indian Law Institute style, consistently, and name the style in the covering letter. Cite judgments in full with the neutral citation where one exists, and legislation with its year and section.